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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. current — of water
  3. chest — of your body
  4. clip — for paper
  5. current — electric
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. cap — a hat
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. clip — a video
  10. cap — a lid
  11. clip — to cut
  12. chest — of your body
  13. squash — to crush
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. current — happening now
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. chest — a box
  19. land — a country
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — ground
  22. fork — in a road
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. squash — the sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com